Like this:

Since 1952, Big TEX has welcomed visitors to the State Fair of Texas, the biggest state fair in the country where fair goers spend more than $21 million every year on food and rides alone..

Before Big Tex became Big TEX, he was a giant Santa Claus in Kerens, Texas, east of Corsicana.

This photo was taken in 1949. Two years later, the giant figure was purchased for 750 dollars by Dallas banker R.L. Thornton, then president of the State Fair of Texas and later mayor of Dallas. Dallas Artist Jack Bridges was hired to create a face for Big TEX, he used a combination of his own face, rancher Doc Simmons and Will Rogers.

Big Tex made his debut at the State Fair in 1952.

Here are some numbers on Big TEX

He is 52 feet tall

Weighs about 6,000 pounds

Has a 75 gallon Stetson hat, that is 5 feet tall

His belt is 23 feet long with a 50 pound buckle

Ft Worth based Dickies made his clothes

His shirt is 600 times larger than a store bought Dickies shirt

His jeans have a 283 size waist, with a 56 inch fly

His boots are size 70, and 7 foot 7 inches tall

In 2000, he began to wave at visitors for the first time. Over the years, 7 different men have voiced the voice of big Tex, the most recent is radio personality Bill Bragg.

It’s no coincidence that the Fletcher’s Corny Dog stand is right in front of this Dallas icon.

We stop here every year…..and have a corny dog.

In case you don’t know, a corny dog is a hot dog on a stick, dipped in corn meal batter and deep-fried till golden brown. They were first created on this very spot in 1942, and the Fletcher family still owns the company. Regular or jalapeno, both delicious…..lately I’ve been choosing jalapeno.

Last year, the unthinkable happened. An electrical fire caused Big Tex to engulf in flames………in the middle of the fair.

But none to worry,

This year he’s back, and better than ever. His mouth even moves when he talks.

We made a quick stop by the fair last weekend to say “Howdy”…….(that’s Big Tex’s line)

We even managed time for a corny dog…..with perfectly art-directed mustard.

Any decent Texan will automatically think of Big Tex and Fletcher’s corny dogs.

Yepp, we also think of both of those things….

But we also think of the Crazy Mouse ride.

Last week, with our busy travel schedules, we managed to make it to the State Fair of Texas.

Even with all the rickety carnival rides to choose from on the midway, there is only one ride that we wouldn’t miss out on…the Crazy Mouse.

It’s also the only ride at the fair with a camera that takes pictures.

We ALWAYS buy this picture……I love the sheer joy that we undoubtedly have on our faces just as we drop 4 stories (and how we look sick and excited at the same time).

Here are those pictures from the past 6 years.

Enjoy

Can you hear us laughing/screaming just looking at these pictures?

We can……….

Every time we see them.

( UPDATE on this post )

I couldn’t ignore the fact that just a few hours after we posted this post, Big Tex caught an electrical fire that singed him into nothing but a metal skeleton in a matter of minutes. And on his 60th birthday too……

No doubt that the kind folks at Dickies will have him better than ever by this time next year,